Defending Teams Champion Hendriks Motorsport announces their program for the 2021 season yesterday, revealing a revamp of their all-star lineup and a new title sponsorship deal from historic Italian aftermarket company MOMO.
After successfully defending the Teams Championship title and crushing the field in the EuroNASCAR 2 class last year, Hendriks Motorsport is ready to give another shot for glory this year after they announced their 2021 lineup yesterday.
Hendriks reveals that they will be retaining all 5 drivers that made up the team’s core lineup last year, but there will be a major shake-up as defending EN2 champion Vittorio Ghirelli will receive a promotion to EuroNASCAR PRO this year. Ghirelli is set to be making his PRO class debut in the No. 50 infitto.eu/Momo Ford, replacing Loris Hezemans who will be transferred to the No. 7 Orion Ford team this year.
“I am very happy to be on the start line this year with the #50 Ford Mustang of the Hendriks Motorsport-Momo team and to be in the hunt for the EN PRO title,” said Ghirelli in the official announcement. “It is a fantastic top team in motorsports. Last year was a fantastic year with 5 wins in 10 races! The hard work, determination and focus we all put into it has given us the wins and me the EN2 champion. I can’t wait to get started!”
“Our team’s driver lineup for this year is great so we will continue to push ourselves to the limit every time. Thanks to my main sponsor infitto.eu for the support. The fight is on… let’s get started!”.
Joining Ghirelli in the No. 50 Ford is the newly crowned Esports Champion Tobias Dauenhauer, who will be staying with the team for another season. Dauenhauer and Ghirelli enjoyed a fantastic title fight that went all the way to Valencia last year and with Ghirelli promoted to the top class, Dauenhauer will be hoping to be able to win the EN2 title this year.
“First of all, I am very happy to have won the EuroNASCAR Esports Championship title and with that already have the first virtual title of the year,” said Dauenhauer in the official champion. “On the other hand, I can’t wait to get back in the car in Valencia next month. I still have an account open in Valencia and therefore I am all the more motivated to start the championship well there. The goal for 2021 is pretty clear and that is to win the title and to be on the top step of the podium at the end of the year. With a super team like Hendriks Motorsport-Momo, I have every confidence in that.”
Martin Doubek, who had already confirmed his intentions to return to the series in the No. 7 Orion Ford last month, is excited at the prospect of having Loris Hezemans as his teammate this year.
“I am extremely excited to get back behind the wheel after the winter break,” said Doubek in the official announcement. “2021 will be my 7th year in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and this season I really want to compete for the EuroNASCAR 2 title and continue the good line of 2020.”
“I am also looking forward to working with Loris. He has been my teammate for years but this will be the first year we share the car together. I’m also really looking forward to rounds 3 and 4 of the championship, which will be held in my home country of the Czech Republic. I would like to show the Czech public what I can do by shining in front of my own home crowd”.
As for Giorgio Maggi, the announcement confirms that he will be staying with Hendriks for a third season following speculations that he might be replaced by Lasse Sorensen after Doubek revealed that Sorensen is in talks with the team on his interview with Dusan Bouzek last month.
Maggi’s debut season in the PRO class last year proved to be a tough one as he only scored a total of 1 podium and 3 Top-10 finishes throughout the season, but his points tally contributed to the No. 18 team’s second-place finish in the Teams Championship last year.
“I am happy to be back on the grid with Hendriks Motorsport-Momo,” said Maggi in the official announcement. We showed a lot of potential last season, so I am sure we will fight for the championship.”
Along with the driver announcement, Hendriks also revealed that MOMO will become the team’s title sponsor for this year. The team thus will compete under the Hendriks Motorsport-MOMO banner for the 2021 season.
MOMO, who had joined Hendriks as the team’s official firesuit provider in 2020, are no strangers of becoming a sponsor in racing. MOMO’s founder Gianpiero Moretti was an avid amateur racer and he famously cooperated with Dallara and Ferrari to built the all-conquering Ferrari 333 SP, Ferrari’s first prototype racer since 1973.
MOMO also sponsored Tsuchiya Engineering in the team’s 1999 JGTC GT300 class triumph, which was immortalized with the inclusion of the team’s MOMO Corse Apex MR2 in Gran Turismo 2.
In NASCAR, MOMO had previously sponsored Lira Motorsports in the States from its inception until the team’s initial demise in 2016. MOMO’s title sponsor deal would mean that they will have a more active presence with both the team and the sport in 2021.
With the revamped driver lineup and a new title sponsor, team owner Roy Hendriks is aiming to not only retaining the titles that they have achieved in 2020, but also to reclaim the top class title to give Hendriks a historic triple in 2021.
“We have won many championships in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series in recent years,” said Roy Hendriks in the official announcement. “This coming season we want to take a shot at all three titles: EuroNASCAR PRO, EuroNASCAR 2 and the Teams Championship. We managed to put together a great lineup again and we can’t wait for the new season to start in Valencia.”
Disclaimer: Unless noted, all photos used in this article are courtesy of NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Stephane Azemard / Wolfgang Koepp.